Maternity garment



Feb. 17, 1959 P. JACOBS MATERNITY GARMENT Filed July 9, 1956 INVENTOR 1 /2/70) l/daas United States Patent MATERNITY GARMENT Phillip Jacobs, Kansas City, Mo., assignor to Phil Jacobs 'Co., Inc., Kansas City, M0,, a corporation of Missouri Application July 9, 1956, Serial No. 596,502

3 Claims. (Cl. 2-221) This invention relates to an improvedmaternity garment in the nature of that disclosed in U. S. Letters Pa'te'ntNo. 2,544,386, dated March 6, 195l,'and No; 2,709,262, dated May 31, 1955.

It is the primary object ofthe instant invention to improve upon the garments disclosed in said patents by provision of a flexible covering for the abdominal-re ceiving opening cooperable advantageously with an elastic strap forming a part of the waistband and attached thereto in a novel manner.

Another important object of the instant invention is to provide novel means for permitting gradual increasing of the girth of the garment at the waistband from time to time as the abdomen continues to enlarge through use of fastening elements that interconnect an extended portion of the elastic strap with the waistband;

Another object of the instant invention is to associate the elastic strap that extends across the upper end of the opening with the said elastic covering through use of a hem in the latter within which the, strap is disposed and operable to noimally gather the said hem into a plurailty of pleats.

A vitally important feature of the instant invention relates to the way in which the ends of the waistband of the garment at the uppermost end of the opening in the latter, are joined'to the elastic strap by lines of stitching or'the like whereby the hem is gathered as aforementioned but additionally for the purpose of permitting expanding of the girth of the garment through removal of one of the lines of stitching and attaching the said extended portionof the tape to the waistband through use of another of the fastening elements, all as will hereinafter be made more clear during the course of the following specification, reference being bad to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure l is a fragmentary, front perspective view of a maternity garment made pursuant to the present inventlon.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary, rear elevational view, parts being broken away for clearness; and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary, edge view taken substantially on line III-III of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows.

The particular nature of the garment embodying the improvements of the instant invention is, of course, of no consequence and such improvements may be included in an abdominal encircling body broadly designated by the numeral and constituting a skirt, slip, slacks, shorts, jodhpurs or the like. In any event, body 10 is provided with a split waistband 12 having a pair of spaced-apart ends, one of which is seen in Fig. l of the drawing and designated by the numeral 14. Body 10 is additionally provided with an opening 16 at the front thereof and extending downwardly from the ends 14 of waistband 12 to accommodate the abdomen of the wearer when enlarged by reason of pregnancy.

sequence, but it is to be pointed out that many fabrics or synthetic products presently on the market are suitable for such purpose. By way of example, such materials are now commonly employed in the field of hosiery where in, by virtue of the high elasticity thereof, it becomes unnecessary to be particularly concerned with respect to sizes.

Panel 18 is permanently secured to the body 10 along the edge thereof forming opening 16 by a continuous line of stitching 20. The uppermost end of the panel 18 is folded inwardly upon itself to present an elongated, tubular hem 22 held in place by a line of stitching 24. The hem 22 receives an elongated elastic strap 26 loosely threaded therethrough and secured rigidly to the ends 14 of the waistband 12 whereby to become a part thereof by lines of stitching 28 and 30.

The unattenuated length of the strap 26 between the points of attachment 28-30 is less than the normal length of the uppermost edge of panel 18 and, therefore, the length of hem 22 to the end that strap 26 normally gathers the hem 22 into a series of vertical pleats 32 extending throughout the length of the hem 22. It is manifest however, that such construction does not impede full attenuation of the strap 26 as well as the material from which hem 22 is made, thereby removing the pleats 32 when the garment is worn if the wearer is desirous of having the same stretched tightly across her abdomen.

In accordance with the present invention further, it is desirable, if not essential, that the strap 26 be provided with at least one portion extending beyond either the line of stitching 28 or the line of stitching 30 and for purposes of illustration, there is shown a pair of opposed extended strap portions 34, it being understood that both of such portions 34-36 may be used if desired. Normally, the portions 34-36 lie against the inner face of waist band 12 in partial overlapping relationship thereto and are held in place attached to the waistband 12 by suitable fasteners. Buttons and button-holes or other suitable fasteners may be employed, but for purposes of illustration there has been shown conventional snap fasteners having cooperating interengageable parts as is Well known.

Thus, each of the extended portions 3436 is provided with one of such snap fastener elements 38 at the terminal ends thereof and the waistband 12 is provided with a plurality of snap fastener elements 40 cooperable with the elements 38 in holding the portions 36 in place. It is understood that the elements 38 are selectively engageable with any one of the series of spacedapart elements 40 on the inner face of waistband 12.

It can now be seen that when the need for increasing the girth of the body 16 at waistband 12 arises by virtue of continued abdominal enlargement, it is but necessary to remove the line of stitching 30 for example and thereby release the strap 26 from the proximal waistband end 14 and thereupon increase the distance across the opening 16 at the waistband 12 to thereby thread an additional part of the strap portion 36 into the hem 22 whereupon the line of stitching 30 is replaced to reattach the portion 36 to the waistband 12. Thereupon, the fastener element 38 may be placed into locking engagement with another of the fastener elements 40 closer to the line of stitching 3i). lf strap 26 is provided with two extended portions 34 and 36 as shown, the wearer may remove both lines of stitching 28 and 30 if desired at the time of increasing the girth of the waistband 12.

It is seen from the foregoing that an attractive appearance is provided in the garment 10 for the wearer thereof throughout the time the same is used since the waistband 12 is always held in relatively tight, smooth relationship to the body of the wearer without presenta tion of any unsightly or uncomfortable bulges, protubere u ances or the like. ,The tightness of fit may be easily and quickly adjusted to suit the desires of the wearer whereby to assure that the garment will be held in place at all times without the necessity of experiencing unnecessary discomfort.

The ends 14 of the waistband 12 are permanently interconnected Without the necessity of utilizing bulky and unsightly fasteners and in complete absence of knots, ties, bows or other undesirable bulkiness. The elastic panel 18 cooperates with the elastic strap 26 in that, irrespective of the extent of attenuation of the strap 26, the hem 22 remains in covering relationship thereto in full bridging relationship to the ends 14 of the waistband 12 either in the fully pleated or gathered condition illustrated, or in a stretched condition where such pleats 32 are eliminated.

Furthermore, the panel 18 in no way impedes the functionof the opening 16in receiving the enlarged abdomen. On the contrary, panel 18 being of highly'ficxible material, readily yields or stretches as the abdominal condition requires, all irrespective of the extent to which the strap 26 is adjusted throughout the period of abdominal enlargement. It may be pointed out further that normally, the garment 10 will be employed in connection with an outer garment such as a blouse, depending thereover in covering relationship to the panel 18 and the use of the latter is, therefore, of further advantage.

Proper colors may be selected in producing panel 18 to blend with the colors of the main body portion of the garment 10 so that undergarments are not exposed therethrough and so that the panel 18 itself cannot be seen through the covering blouse or other article of clothing.

It is, therefore, apparent that there has been presented a construction that improves upon the advantageous features disclosed in the patents hereinabove mentioned,

as well as all others Within the prior art and with which I am familiar.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters'Patent is:

l. In a maternity garment, the combination of a tubular skirt having a split waistband provided with a pair of spaced ends at the front thereof, there being an opening in the front of the skirt extending downwardly from said ends of the waistband to accommodate the abdomen of the wearer when enlarged by reason of pregnancy, an elastic panel secured to the body in coveririg relationship 'to said opening and provided with a tubular hem at the uppermost end thereof above said opening in alignment with the spaced ends of the waistband; an elastic strap slidably encased in said hem and having a length at each end of the same extending beyond corresponding adjacent ends ofthe hem and said waistband in partial overlapping relationship to the innermost face of the latter, there beingaplurality of spaced fasteners on said face of the waistband adjacent each of said ends thereof; a fastener secured to the face of each of said lengths of the strap normally proximal to the waistband and selectively 'engageable with respective fasteners on the waistband; and readily removable attaching means relasably'securing each end respectively of said waistband to corresponding lengths of the strap after selective interengagement of said fasteners whereby the girth of the skirt at the waistband may be gradually increased as said abdomen continues to enlarge: by interniittently removing said attaching means from atleast one of said ends of the waistband followed by increasing of the distance between said ends of the waistband as interengagement between certain of the fasteners on said one end of the waistband and the corresponding length of the strap is altered and the attaching means securing said one end of the Waistband to the corresponding length of the strap replaced. I

2. A maternity garment as set forth in claim 1 wherein said attaching means comprise a relatively short line of stitching extending transversely of the strap.

3. A maternity garment as set forth in claim 2 wherein the fasteners on the waistband and said lengths of the strap are interengageable, readily releasable snap fasteners.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,104,625 Caplan July 21, D14 2,393,392 Lyons Ja'nf22, 1946 2,568,545 Hill Sept/l8, 1951 2,618,266 De Leone "Nov. 18, 19:52 2,618,784 Root NOV. 25, 1952 2,636,180 Gillespie et al Apr. 28, 1953 

